Redemption
by Kieren Altair Arwydd
Summary: Draco reflects on his relationship with Hermione after the Final Battle.


Okay, so this was to occupy my time... coz I was trying to write Broken Angels third chapter.... so read and review please!!! Oh, yeah, there's character death... Please do try and read Broken Angels! Anonymous reviews are enabled...so, I appreciate if you could review!

**Thivyabanu**

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**REDEMPTION**

Draco watched. Even in deep sleep, she was just as beautiful. With all the scars of the Second Wizarding War, she looked more like an avenging angel… even in slumber. Her world as she knew it, or used to would be torn away from her when she awakened from her deep slumber. Her friends, dead, her parents, gone, her confidants, lost… Even so, he would always be there for her.

He knew and understood her pain. He had loved and lost too… if not as bad as her… For even when his parents passed into the void, he still had her, his own and only confidant and friend. Whereas he was the same too her, but she also had Weasley and Harry, her brothers in all but blood, of whom both had been forever lost to them. Her parents were murdered by his own father's hand… He knew that his father had become sickened by the Dark Lord's actions but for the safety of his son, his hand was forced to commit the crimes. Unlike his aunt though, he always granted the victims a quick, painless death.

Her fate was far crueler than his, he reflected. But in the end, she never gave up, never succumbed until the war had ended. Into that, she seemed to collapse on herself, falling into the coma she was currently suffering. According to his cousin, it was the catching up of all the stress and memories of what had been and what should have been that forced her into this.

He brushed her bushy hair out of her face. He let his hand linger over her face. She had seen much, his poor tainted angel… He knew she would never be the same again. But he could pray… When had he realised that he had fallen for this girl? One that represented everything he had been taught to despise as he grew up. He knew it had all started that day in their third year… when she had slapped him. At first, he was clearly resentful of her actions but slowly, he began to grudgingly respect her. Of everyone he knew, not even Blaise dared stand up to him. He had also recognised the ringing truth in her words…

From then on, he would pester, hurling endless insults at her, just to see her reaction. Her fury did not make her uglier; on the contrary, she was a sight to behold in her anger. He of all people should have known what he had gotten himself too. He failed in that…

Then, one night in their sixth year, as he went to the library, he saw her… Finally, he noticed what for so long he did not. She was beautiful, not in your typical stereotypes of beauty… Her hair was a plain brown and bushy, her face was just regular with even features, her figure small and petite… Her doe-like eyes were her most beautiful feature, a soft, soft, deep endless brown… No one had really seen her for who she was. Even her best friends had failed in that aspect. She was not just a know-it-all; she was a complex creature… That he understood, for he had so much in common with her, saw him in her. Both misunderstood, both hated, one by the Slytherins for being an infuriatingly smart _Mudblood_ and the other by the Gryffindors for being an arrogant, pompous git. But in that, it was all a façade. Slowly, he tried to establish a friendship with the only kindred spirit he would ever know. That tenuous relationship strengthened as time passed.

Funny how he had fallen for the most unlikely person… He loved her laugh, her smile, her cute frown when she was trying to puzzle something out… He thought he had a lifetime with her… but that was when destiny caught up. That was the worst for he had never told her those three small words before it all happened. They were both torn apart the summer following that, forced to fight on opposite sides during The War that ensued… He, to protect his mother whose life was on the line… lest he should fail, his mother would be paying the consequences… she, to protect all that she held dear… Then, they were forced to duel in a confrontation when the Order tried to stop their raids. That was the day they both broke… finally, he decided that he would no longer be forced to choose between his love and his mother… One night, he snuck himself and his mother out of the Dark Lord's and went to Hermione's house… From there on, he helped the Order… no longer torn apart about hurting her… Yet, all of it was now down the drain… She was lying in a coma…

He held her small hand in his own large ones, willing her to wake up. It had been two weeks already. Draco just bent his head and wished, wished for her to wake up… "I love you," he whispered against her hand. Suddenly, he felt her hand twitch in his. Afraid to look up, eager not to miss it, he was torn… Finally, he lifted his head… and looked… just looked at her. Her eyes were open. She met his gaze and nodded, a small nod to acknowledge what he had said. Her eyes fluttered close and her chest soon rose and fell with her regular breathing. She was awake… oh, now she was back asleep… but no longer in a coma! He yelled for Dora… she came and checked Hermione's diagnostics. It was all fine, she said, giving him a pat on his head. She walked off to check on her son, her last connection to Remus… for he had died protecting her.

Finally, he had been granted redemption…

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Thanks for reading and reviewing by the way. *hugs to all readers and reviewers* Do try reading my other stories!


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